Omaha daily bee., 1887-12-23

serpent, q species closely resembling
the American biacksnal,c, and as deadly
as any serpant in India. 1t waved its
head and dartcd its tongue for IA mo-
mcnt, and then settle n back into its coil.
AS soon rs the head went down felt for
my revolver aud threw back the ham
mcr. The click click. alarmed the
snake. as | knew it would, but by the
time he had elevated his head again
had my arm outstrotched and the muz-
zle of my revolver within two feet OF
him. 1t was II snap shot and had to be
made on the instant, and it was by pure
good luck that sent bullet through
his ugly head. He was writhing and
Hopping about as sprang up, and was
dead as bent over the Major
The snake had crept out of the bushes
and upon the Majors breast early in the
night. 1t was not more than midnight
when the latter awoke and found the
serpent coilcd up, and he knew that any
movement on his part would result in
certain death. For three hours and II
half he had rested on the broad OF his
back, never moving muscle, with his
eyes wide open. and that serpcnt's head
part of the time waving to and fro
within six inches OF his face. When l
bent over him he was helpless. When
we got him off the ground he sank down
again and began to weep, and it was
fully two hours before he would talk to
us. The result of his experience was
that he became perfect physical
coward, startled at the slightest noise,
and was ready to run from even u
house dog.
Rangoon Bay is infested with tho
largest man -oating sharks on the coast
One season l was out for two weeks in II
small schooner with u party of en-
rrt, h,,,, ,t.r n,,l Ep1,. haI
with us u Captain Scott, an ex-oflicer of
the army, and u man whose reputation
for bravery extended over u large dis
trict. On one occasion he followed u
native who had committed murder forty
miles into the interior, and took him
out Of a village of excited people without
a man to back him. He had thirty-four
tiger skins of his own killing, and once
| when a band of five natives, each armed
with creese, attacked him, he drew
his cavalry sabre and killed three, and
drove the other two off with wounds to
nurse. One day as we lay on the west
side of the bay. swinging at our cable and
| being within hundred feet of shore, l
| counted the snouts of four alligators be-
tween us and the bank. We were hay
| ing an after-dinner smoke under the
awning, and called the attention of
the crowd TO the saurians. Captain
| oco'V gov up WIN u lauSh, IhfeW away
| his cigar, and, before any of us sus-
pected what he had in his mind, he
| sprang upon the rail and went over
board and swan ashore. We ran for our
rifles, hoping to frighten the monsters
off, but he reached the bank in safety,
rested for couple Of minutes, and then
swan back. There wasn't another
man of us who would have taken that
swim for all the jewels of the nabobs.
| Three or four days later, as We were
beating across the bay, the schooner
was capsized by Il sudden squall. Two
white men and three natives were
drowned, and the rest of US managed to
get on the schoOner's bottom and hang
to the keel. The squall soon passed,
but "a breeze from the north drove us
down the bay and brought a lumpy sea.
Pretty soon the sharks gathered. IL
there was one there were five hundred,
and they had no fear OF us. They took
off u white man and another native, and
until they rested half their length on
the bottom of the craft. Strangely
enough, Captain Scott was the first to
exhibit terror and to break down.
Within half an hour after the accident
happened TO us we were compelled to
seize hold of him to keep him with AID
such was his fear that he almost lost his
mind. We were rescued in about an
hour, but the captain was done for. He
was almost wreck. A boy, ten years of
age, armed with u stick, could have put
him to flight, and if honey bee or wasp
alighted near him he would scream like
u child. The first man was brave be-
cause he had always fought with u
weapon. and realized thnt he had the
advantage. The second man lost his
nerve when taken at a disadvantage.
The third was coward as soon Us dis
| armed.
was present several years ago at an
execution in Havana. A Cuban patriot
they called 'em guerrillas-had been
captured in the mountains after a long
hunt. He had killed with his own hand
over thirty men. He had fired dozens
of plantation buildings. helped torture
my planters, and he killed negroes so
often that he did not cut u notch for
their death. He had the characteristics
Of a tiger. He would kill where other
men would spare.
He had had many hand-to-hand fights
with the regular troops. and no ten of
them would have dared attempt his
capture. On one occasion he had put
squad of thirteen Spanish soldiers to
flight, and on another he captured Il
squad of five who had been left to guard
a path and cut the throat of every man.
] visited him IN Jail in company with
the British consul. Although he was
loaded down with chains and kept be-
hind bars which an elephant could not
have wrcnchcd away, everybody was
afraid of him. He was reckless and de-
iiant to the last. and delighted to call
out the names of his victims and relate
how he had disposed of each one.
/ got permission to be present when
the guerrilla was shot. He was taken
from the prison in the gray OF
. the morning by large body OF
soldiery and conducted to the military
target shoot. over a mile away. He
, was roaring defiance when he came into
the open air, and he kept it up until the
place OF execution was reached. Then
he suddenly grew calm, and had no
sooner been placed in front OF his coffin
than he broke down and begged and
pleaded in Il way to touch the heart.
! He offered to betray his comrades, do
anything on earth, TO preserve his life,
,, and he was groveling in the dirt when
, the bullets of the firing squad put an
, end to his life.
At Fort DOnclsOn.